Elon Musk faces a deepening crisis in the Nordic region after Tesla Inc. faces a deepening crisis in the Nordic region after a new legal setback over a labor dispute that is also raising concerns among local investors.
On Thursday, the electric car maker was told by a Swedish court that the union blockade on its mail would not be lifted until there is a final judgment in the case. The first ruling means the company is still unable to receive license plates, effectively halting car deliveries to customers in Europe’s fifth-largest market.
The court said that Tesla did not provide a sufficient basis “as to why the company would be harmed by not distributing these packages” before the lawsuit was concluded. statement.
Postal workers are refusing to deliver Tesla mail in an act of sympathy for workers at seven repair shops in Sweden. A strike was called for in October. This is the result of American companies refusing to sign collective bargaining agreements that cover basic rights such as salary levels and working hours.
On Thursday, the region’s first major institutional investor publicly sold Tesla shares in response to the dispute. Danish pension organization PensionDanmark A/S did not disclose the amount of its investment to Bloomberg, but local media Frihedsbrevet reported it at approximately 400 million kroner ($58 million).
The breakdown in relations has spread to neighboring Denmark and Norway, with unions warning that: Block shipments of Tesla cars. In Finland, transport workers’ unions will meet on Thursday night to decide how to respond to a call by Swedish trade unions for their Nordic colleagues to join an action of sympathy.
Thursday’s legal setback comes after another Swedish court ruled in Tesla’s favor in a separate case brought against the Transport Agency, which had allowed automakers to receive license plates for new cars directly from manufacturers. It happened the day after I took it down. About postal workers.
“Very serious risk”
Other Nordic pension funds have not added Tesla to their exclusion lists, but investor pressure is starting to mount on Tesla.
Veliv Pension & Livsforsikring A/S, which manages about $47 billion, told Bloomberg in an email that it is “aware of the challenges related to Tesla” and expects the company to change its behavior. mentioned in. The fund said it has contacted its ESG monitoring partners and asked them to begin a dialogue with Mr. Musk’s company on behalf of Mr. Belib and other investors.
Pension Denmark, the fund exiting Tesla, said it initially contacted the company to persuade it to sign a collective agreement. Tesla’s CEO has criticized Sweden’s labor movement as “insane”.
“As the dispute has spread to Denmark and Tesla has recently flatly refused to sign agreements in any country, we have concluded that we are unable to influence the company as an investor at this time,” the fund said. said. on mail. “That is why we are now adding Tesla to our exclusion list.”
Jan Vilasen, chairman of the 3F trade union behind the Danish strike, is also a member of Pension Denmark’s board of directors. The foundation has more than 800,000 members and has raised $45 billion. Total assets.
In Sweden, the Joint Ethics Council of the state-run AP Fund, which has approximately $247 billion in total assets, has been in contact with Tesla to discuss worker rights and is “watching developments closely,” said Chief Active Owner. Director Anna Magnusson said. Comment by email.
The chief executive of Akademi Carpension, another Danish fund with about $24 billion in assets, said Tesla’s stance on workers’ rights reflects the fund’s more closely monitored investments. He said this means Tesla has been on the list for a long time.
“Tesla’s management does not yet seem to realize that good working conditions add value to the company and reduce risk,” CEO Jens Munk Holst said in an email. Ta. “The labor dispute could escalate, and as investors, we believe there are very significant risks to Tesla’s ability to operate its business and, by extension, its ability to provide reasonable returns to its members.”
